Chaise lounges, having canopies mounted thereon, have found widespread recreational and vacational use, particularly at beaches and on the sun decks and patios of homes and hotels. However, the backrest for this type of lounge, popular in Europe, is often-times fixed in position. Thus, the user is unable to adjust the backrest for his or her comfort. The lounge was later modified to permit the backrest to pivot on a base of the lounge. However, the externally operated mechanical locking systems utilized are difficult to manipulate and the substantial weight of the backrest (e.g. 75 lbs.) renders the lounge impracticable for every day use.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,243,984; 2,279,748 and 2,837,140 discloses various types of beach chairs wherein an adjustable backrest or canopy is pivotally mounted on a frame to adjust the inclination of the backrest from an upright position to a lowered position. Chairs of this type normally rely on legs or struts, positioned rearwardly of the pivot point whereat the backrest pivots on the frame, for supporting the weight of the person sitting or lying thereon.
Further, recreational lounges and chairs of the above-described types do not provide means for automatically returning the backrest to its upright position, under control of the person sitting in the chair. The adjustment and seating problems encountered with conventional canopy-covered lounging chairs are aggravated when the covering material for the canopy thereof comprises an open mesh, flexible material which will not exhibit the desired support to the person lying thereon should conventional support systems be utilized for supporting the backrest at its lowered position.
Applicant's above-referenced U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/496,520 discloses a chaise lounge that overcomes the above-described problems. In particular, a described embodiment utilizes a pair of lock struts and a separate pair of return struts, each pivotally interconnected between the lounge's base and canopy frames.